Retailers’ Marketing Plans: Facebook, Facebook, Facebook

September 29, 2016byRob Bates

Ninety-two percent of retailers are investing in social media marketing

Retailers are boosting their social media ad budgets, and Facebook has become the social vehicle of choice, according to a new survey on digital marketing from the National Retail Federation and Forrester.

– Ninety-two percent of retailers are investing in social media marketing to some degree, second only to email.

– Seventy-six percent of retail executives said they plan to more on social media over the next year, more than any other marketing tactic. Specifically, 71 percent of retailers say they will shell out more for paid Facebook posts and ads, and 37 percent plan to boost spending on Instagram.

– Retailers find social media marketing more effective than paid search. In particular, Facebook and Instagram ads seem to be paying off: 68 percent of retailers surveyed said that they were seeing greater conversion from paid Facebook ads, and 40 percent were reaping increased rewards from Facebook-owned Instagram. After that: Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter.

– Mobile remains important: 66 percent of retailers said they would spend more on mobile marketing, but most are not investing in new technologies like beacons. But execs want their materials optimized for phone browsers, as an average of 45 percent of emails are opened on smartphones, versus 41 percent on desktop devices.

– Fifty-five percent of retailers surveyed are ramping up their online merchandising budgets, and 44 percent are allocating more staff to web merchandising.